Good News in History, June 13

50 years ago today, Americans were given their “Miranda rights” by the U.S. Supreme Court. The judges ruled 5–4 in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them. Defendants must be informed of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right against self-incrimination, otherwise evidence gained will not be admissible in court. Afterward, this Miranda warning became routine police procedure… (1966)

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.”

MORE Good News on this Day:

Rhode Island, whose flag features the word “HOPE”, became the first of Britain’s North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves (1774)

France came to the aid of the American Revolution when Marquis de Lafayette landed near Charleston, S.C., to help train the army of the Continental Congress (1777)

U.S. President Lyndon Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to the highest court, leading the way to his becoming the first black Supreme Court Justice (1967)

The Long and Winding Road became the 20th – and last – No. 1 single in the US by the Beatles (1970)

President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea met Kim Jong-il, president of North Korea, for the first time, fulfilling his Sunshine Policy with an inter-Korea summit (2000)

Also, on this day in 1865, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature, was born. A driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, Yeats also served as a two-term Irish Senator. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his “inspired poetry that gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”